Lifeboat Ethics

[ssonb]

I kinda see it like this, The example of the lifeboat with 50 people inside with room for 10 more and you have another 100 swimming twards you which 10 do you take???? I think the OP ED author missed a big tactical issue here. TIME ! Even if you had the time to pick the fortunate 10 and load them in the boat the more pressing issue is how to defend your borders because even with the ten extra on board you are outnumbered and the "lifeboat" is about to be overrun , swamped and overturned and in the long run only 10 or 15 will eventually survive by being able to hang on to the exposed keel.

 

[Caribou]

I kinda see it like this, The example of the lifeboat with 50 people inside with room for 10 more and you have another 100 swimming twards you which 10 do you take???? I think the OP ED author missed a big tactical issue here. TIME ! Even if you had the time to pick the fortunate 10 and load them in the boat the more pressing issue is how to defend your borders because even with the ten extra on board you are outnumbered and the "lifeboat" is about to be overrun , swamped and overturned and in the long run only 10 or 15 will eventually survive by being able to hang on to the exposed keel.

You take the first ten. The rest are rejected, if need be with lethal force. If you overload a lifeboat then all are lost. That is the law of the sea as I learned it when I earned my license to master a lifeboat. I find that this rule applies to many other situations in life.

 

[ssonb]

Kapnoy.....You know Russian for Caribou; .... Just for information what type of lethal force multipliers did a lifeboat master have or was allowed to have or was trained to use?

 

[Caribou]

Kapnoy.....You know Russian for Caribou; .... Just for information what type of lethal force multipliers did a lifeboat master have or was allowed to have or was trained to use?

There are no designated weapons typically. The lifeboats had oars that you could push people away with or use to strike with. There were knives in the emergency equipment. There are knives in the inflatable life rafts but I wouldn't want to try to fight someone off as it might puncture the raft. A fist to the face or just lifting the hand off the side would prevent someone from climbing aboard most of the time. Some vessels might issue sidearms and each lifeboat would have a flare pistol, though I'd hate to waste a flare that I could signal with. Pretty much use whatever you had to save your life and the lives of the rest of the people on the raft or lifeboat.

Lifeboats are marked in several places as to their capacity. You should take as many on board as possible until you reach that number and then you stop. When the Titanic sank most of their lifeboats were less than half full. They just rowed away and left them to die. That was a terrible thing to do. By the time that they went back it was too late. The Titanic didn't have enough lifeboats to save everyone aboard but they could have saved twice as many as they did. That was the first time the new distress signal S.O.S. was used.

 

[ssonb]

I did a small survey yesterday and naturally someone approached this subject in a unique way, It went like this...How far out is the rescue?..I don't know the exercise did not specify. OK Then ... Two ways if there is rescue soon fill the boat and even let a number of people hang on the side. If there is a slim chance and you are very far from land load only half capacity and row away fast. you only have limited survival stores on board you have just doubled the time frame on the food and water.

 

[Sonya_6]

Lifeboat Ethics: the Case Against Helping the Poor

If we divide the world crudely into rich nations and poor nations, two thirds of them are desperately poor, and only one third comparatively rich, with the United States the wealthiest of all. Metaphorically each rich nation can be seen as a lifeboat full of comparatively rich people. In the ocean outside each lifeboat swim the poor of the world, who would like to get in, or at least to share some of the wealth. What should the lifeboat passengers do?

The lifeboat is actually a terrible analogy for nations. Presumably NONE of the people in the lifeboat or swimming around the lifeboat had anything to do with building the boat, stocking it with supplies, or preparing for a catastrophe that requires the use of a lifeboat. They also aren't expected to repair/keep the boat afloat, they just sit there and use up the boat's resources.

Nations are far more like homesteads. Everyone starts out with a chunk of land and they build a homestead themselves. The parcels are not equal, some are so fertile and full of wildlife the homesteaders have very little work, while others end up with a parcel on a rocky slope and struggle to eek out a living. Oddly enough over time the homesteaders on the worst parcels of land usually create the best places due to the hardship and skills needed to succeed.

What will happen if the people that built the nice homesteads are replaced by the people that put up low end ramshackle not very productive homesteads? The answer is obvious, the nice homesteads eventually become EXACTLY like the dumpy homesteads. Worse yet, if only the "best" people are hand picked from the dumpy homesteads to run the nice homesteads both will suffer, as the people left behind in the dumpy homestead will find their situation gets even worse as the best among them moves away.

 

[Caribou]

The lifeboat is actually a terrible analogy for nations. Presumably NONE of the people in the lifeboat or swimming around the lifeboat had anything to do with building the boat, stocking it with supplies, or preparing for a catastrophe that requires the use of a lifeboat. They also aren't expected to repair/keep the boat afloat, they just sit there and use up the boat's resources.

Nations are far more like homesteads. Everyone starts out with a chunk of land and they build a homestead themselves. The parcels are not equal, some are so fertile and full of wildlife the homesteaders have very little work, while others end up with a parcel on a rocky slope and struggle to eek out a living. Oddly enough over time the homesteaders on the worst parcels of land usually create the best places due to the hardship and skills needed to succeed.

What will happen if the people that built the nice homesteads are replaced by the people that put up low end ramshackle not very productive homesteads? The answer is obvious, the nice homesteads eventually become EXACTLY like the dumpy homesteads. Worse yet, if only the "best" people are hand picked from the dumpy homesteads to run the nice homesteads both will suffer, as the people left behind in the dumpy homestead will find their situation gets even worse as the best among them moves away.

Actually the people on the lifeboat need to work together. Rowing away from a burning ship or to land or other lifeboats. You need to maintain the vessel like patching a leaking raft. Catching fish and collecting rain water. There are all sorts of things necessary for staying alive and making your life better.